I will admit that I came across this book knowing absolutely nothing about it other than the description on the book jacket. (And that beautiful cover—it’s breathtaking!). The book was recommended to me by a number of people in my book club, and it happened to be on sale in the Kindle store over the holidays, so I jumped on it. I have not previously read anything by Beatriz Williams nor was I familiar with any other books she has written. 

All that being said, I was thoroughly delighted by The Summer Wives. It took me until well past the halfway mark to fully understand the three timelines and what they meant (mostly the earliest one—and keeping the Hugh Fisherses straight), but pushing through despite being a little bit confused was really worth the payoff in the end. 

I don’t know if it’s because I came into this book without any previous knowledge of the author’s breadth of work and usual style, but the plot kept me guessing until the very end. I was invested in most of the characters’ lives—I’m fascinated by Miranda, and Isobel as well, though I do wish we learned a little bit more about Miranda’s mother. Otherwise, Williams created a fully developed world that I wanted to spend more time in.

I’m looking forward to reading more of her novels—especially about the Schuyler sisters. 

4.5 stars

“There’s something about the smells of your childhood, isn’t there? … You still remember those small sublime joys with an ache of longing because there’s no getting it back, is there? You cannot return to a state of innocence.” 
― Beatriz Williams, The Summer Wives

Thank you to Kal Loftus on Unsplash for the beautiful photo of the fishing boat at sunset.